


Make Him Proud

by EmalfPendragon



Series: Tumblr Requests [3]
Category: The Bronze (2015)
Genre: Angst, Car Accident, Gen, Not Beta Read, Olympics, daughter - Freeform, father - Freeform, lance tucker - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 04:32:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9583784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmalfPendragon/pseuds/EmalfPendragon
Summary: It’s the day you’ve been waiting for your whole life, you finally had the chance to win a gold medal for your country and make your father proud…until it all goes wrong.





	

He was late, he was never late. Your father was always on time, especially on competition days. You’d gone ahead with the rest of Team USA early this morning for some extra practice before you competed for the Gold at the Olympics. Your father, the legendary Lance Tucker, and the head coach for Team USA, had a meeting before you had left and had sent you along with the team saying that he’d be there before today’s events began. So where was he? All of the other coaches were there, and they’d been in the meeting as well. Something just wasn’t right and it wasn’t just your nerves.

You watched as the assistant head coach, Carl, answered a call, the smile he had worn fading as he turned his head to look at you. He said something to whoever was on the other line before hanging up and reaching up to rub his eyes and pinch at the bridge of his nose. Your stomach dropped, something was very, very wrong. Slowly, you picked yourself up from where you’d been stretching on the mats, tuning out the cameras and the crowds around you and made your way towards him. 

“Carl,” You hesitated when you reached him, not wanting to ask the rest. “Carl, where’s my dad?” It came out as a choked sob, he could have just been delayed, but deep down inside you knew that it was more than just a delay. He looked up at you, and you saw a brief look of pity before he seemed to steel himself. “There’s…fuck I don’t want to tell you this. There’s been an accident, your dad’s car was hit by a drunk.”

At 16 years old, those words would forever be ingrained in your memory. Everything around you froze. You sank to the floor, tears making their way down your cheeks. Carl followed you down, pulling you into a hug. Vaguely you heard screams, desperate pleas of someone asking over and over if he was okay. It took only moments for you to realize it was you.

“Please, please Carl, he’s okay right? He’s going to walk in any second and yell at me for being a mess and tell me to get back to my stretches and get my ass in gear.” Somehow you knew that was not going to be the case. “Sweetheart, it’s not good. I’m sorry but it’s not. They don’t know if he’ll pull through, he’s got a lot of internal bleeding and he’s in surgery. They’re trying all the can okay? Your grandmother is there with him and is going to keep me updated.”

You barely heard anything beyond ‘it’s not good’ and ‘internal bleeding’. Your father was all you had. Your mother, one of his former athletes had left almost immediately after you were born. She wanted nothing to do with you, you’d ruined her career and any chance that she had at a gold medal. While your dad always said she was a mistake, he also always said that you were the best thing to ever happen to him as cliché as that was. Yeah, your dad could be an egotistical jerk a lot of the time, but to you he was your best friend and your own superhero. He was there when you were sick, he supported you through everything, when you wanted science instead of gymnastics briefly he was cool with it, and when you said you wanted to start gymnastics again because you missed it? He was over the moon. If he died you’d have nothing.

“Y/N, I’m going to find someone to drive you to the hospital, okay? I can’t leave the team but you need to go be there for your dad.” Carl’s voice broke through, startling you from your thoughts. Looking up at him you shook your head no and began wiping the tears away. “No, no Carl, I have to be here, I’ve worked too long and too hard for this to give up now! Dad would want me here, he worked his ass off to get me here and I can’t let him down.”

All of the early mornings, the late nights that he spent making sure that you were ready for this moment. You had a chance at gold, a chance to make him proud and as much as you wanted to be at that hospital, by his side, whether it would be to say goodbye or to hear the news that he’d be okay, you could do nothing more than wait at the hospital, here you could be doing something good and something he’d be happy about. Taking a deep breath and wiping the last of the tears away, you stood on your shaky legs before looking at Carl and nodding. “I’m staying here, I need to be here, I’d do him no good there. This is what he’d want.”

Carl nodded and stood, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Okay, Y/N, whatever you want. I’m going to call your grandmother and let her know okay? I’ll make sure she keeps us updated.” With that you were back on the mat, stretching your limbs, sniffling every so often before pulling yourself up onto the practice beam. Your team rallied around you as you all practiced your routines, you were more than a team, you were family, and they all knew what your father meant to you.

Several hours later it was time for the events to start, the Olympic organizers and the media had been alerted to your father’s accident, it was the biggest news out there right now and that meant the spotlight was on you, people wondering if you’d make it through the day without breaking down. Truthfully you didn’t know, more than once you fought back tears as you thought about the feedback he’d give you after each routine, some of it would be praise, some would be him giving you shit for a sloppy landing. God, what you’d give to hear either.

Before long, it was time for the final event, floor routines, you were currently second in the standings and these were your least favourite and the one event that Lance always had to push you for. Waiting for your turn, you just couldn’t do it and felt a panic attack coming on. You just couldn’t do it without your dad. There hadn’t been any more updates and you were so overwhelmed. Tears fell as you looked around, eyes meeting Carl’s, who within seconds had you in his arms for a hug.

“I…I can’t do this Carl, I need my dad, I can’t do this without my dad.” You cried between hiccupping breaths, you’d been so strong since this morning and now, the moment that you very well could be going home with a gold was so close but you felt like a piece of you was missing and you just couldn’t see yourself doing it without him. You were gripping at his jacket, wishing it was your father. You could feel the cameras on you, all the eyes of the crowd, finally getting the breakdown they were waiting for.

Carl pushed you back a bit and grabbed your shoulders, and looked you dead in the eyes. “You listen to me and listen good, you can and you will do this okay? You wanted to stay, you wanted to be a part of this team, you’re going to go out there and rock this!” He was stern, but there was a hint of sadness and regret at pushing you but it was time to get tough. It’s what Lance Tucker would have done. “What would your dad be saying if you broke down like this before a big event like this huh?”

Sniffling, you hesitated before taking a deep breath. “He’d tell me to knock my shit off, buck up, straighten those shoulders and get my ass out there and prove to the world that the Tuckers still got it.” Carl nodded, smiling a bit. “Exactly, so get your ass out there and do what your dad taught you! You’ve got this.”

All you could do was nod and wipe your eyes. He stood by your side, waiting with you until it was your time to do your final routine, the routine, that if you didn’t fuck it up, could potentially earn you a gold. You were the last competitor for the event, you were going to do it, if not for you then for your dad. It went by in a blur, just as your other routines had. You did the routine you had worked on and memorized, hearing every bit of criticism and advice that your dad had given to you while you’d developed it together.

“Straighten up those legs! Relax! Be nimble and be strong! Don’t show weakness,” He always had some comment and you were hoping you were doing exactly how he’d want. Your eyes were rimmed with red and puffy when you reached your final stance and you sagged with relief when it was finished. You felt yourself shaking as Carl pulled you off of the mat and into a hug. He was telling you how good you’d done and how no matter what you’d have made your father proud. 

He stood beside you, where your father should have been as the scoreboard displayed your near perfect score, putting you in first place. You sank to your knees and cried in disbelief and happiness that you’d done it, not for yourself but for him. What felt like hours later but was really minutes, you found yourself on the podium as Canada and China received their bronze and silver medals. You stood proudly when you received your gold, taking it in your hand and looking down at it before bringing it to your lips to kiss it.

When the medal ceremony was finished, you had to do at least one interview, yours would be for NBC.

“Y/N, I know it’s been a very stressful and emotional day for you today, everyone knows about your dad’s accident and how close you are, how are you feeling? What got you through today? Is there any word on how your dad is?” You knew she wasn’t trying to upset you, in fact you expected the questions. You just didn’t expect them to be all at once. Taking what seemed like your millionth deep breath today you did what you had to do.

“I…Uh, honestly we haven’t had any word on dad, I guess no news is good news right? I’m very proud of myself and of my team, and every American back home supporting us. I did this today, not for me, I did this for my dad, I really had to push through to do this and a lot of it had to do with the training he gave me. I love you dad and I really hope that I made you proud today.” The last part came out almost as a whisper, a new wave of tears threatened and Carl shooed the reported away before you broke down on camera.

As the reporter turned to sign off on her report, Carl handed you his phone. “Here kid, your grandmother wants to talk to you.” You almost refused to take it, you were scared that there would be nothing but bad news from her, but you took it anyway, preparing yourself for the worst. She wouldn’t tell you he was gone over the phone would she?

“H-Hello?” You said cautiously, not really wanting to talk at the moment. What you didn’t expect was the voice on the other end and the new wave of tears it would unleash.

“Y/N, buck up, my little princess, I saw every minute and I am the proudest father in the world.”


End file.
